The Annual Kennedy Center Honors (CBS) - General Discussion

[wonderwoman]

been a busy week; hence the late comments. first, a couple of shallow thoughts: when caroline kennedy choose her dresse, i wonder if she realized how the reflected light would play on camera? and, who dresses meryl streep?

as for the show: i, too, missed the cohesion a host provides. the intro from quincy jones felt tacked on and disjointed.  

because the material can be performed live, tributes to musicians tend to be the most engaging, and tonight was no exception (although we missed the lionel richie. i've read people thought it was a little thin). while the appeal of hip hop contiues to elude me, i still think ll cool j is way too young for a kennedy center honor. maybe it's because he his show is on cbs?  the tributes to gloria estafan and carmen de lavallade were excellent. and while i know some people would have preferred more clips from norman lear's shows, but i think way the material was presented really highlighted the influence lear brought to the medium. 

agreed that it was not up to previous years, but all in all a pretty good show. 

Edited December 29, 2017 by wonderwoman

[alexa]

I loved how happy LL Cool J looked throughout Lionel’s tribute. It added to the tribute just to see how much he enjoyed it. I agree Lionel’s tribute was a bit muted but I still liked it. 

[BW Manilowe]

On 12/27/2017 at 2:24 AM, biakbiak said:

I completely spaced that this was on. Oh well.

If you have the (free) CBS app on your phone, or whatever, as of when I'm writing this today you can still watch the entire program there if you like. You can even skip the parts you're not interested in (I did). If you're interested, you might wanna hurry & watch it. It will eventually (I dunno how soon) be added to the programs/series episodes behind their paywall & available only to CBS All Access (the streaming service) subscribers.

[Sarah 103]

On December 26, 2017 at 9:51 PM, ebk57 said:

Meryl Streep singing along to the theme song of The Jeffersons - gold!

Norman Lear is a mensch.  

I watched this with my father. He commented on how great all the Norman Lear theme songs were and I agreed with him. I had to explain that some people in the audience were probably confused by LL Cool J's inclusion/appearance, but that many people in the audience under the age of 50 were probably fans of LL Cool J. My favorite part of the night was the Norman Lear segment. I think it's neat the Smithsonian loaned Bunker Chairs to the Kennedy Center. 

[Inquisitionist]

The 2018 honorees have been announced:
 

Quote

 

Washington’s “Summer of ‘Hamilton’ ” will stretch into December, when the Kennedy Center Honors salute the groundbreaking musical and its four creators, marking the first time a work of art has been spotlighted at the annual celebration of the performing arts.

“Hamilton” and its creative team — composer-lyricist Lin-Manuel Miranda, director Thomas Kail, music director Alex Lacamoire and choreographer Andy Blankenbuehler — will receive a special honor Dec. 2 in a ceremony that also salutes the lifetime achievements of composer Philip Glass, singer-actresses Cher and Reba McEntire, and jazz musician Wayne Shorter.

 

It's going to be a musical night.  CBS will broadcast the performance on Dec. 26.

[Good Queen Jane]

Bumping this because CBS is showing the ceremony tonight.

[kassa]

They need to fire the sound mixer. I know the words to Reba's songs, but damned if I can make out half of them over the band. If you can't hear Kelly Clarkson or Kristin Chenowith, fercryinoutloud...

[Jeanne222]

They did that with Carrie Underwood on the last awards show.  Could not hear her for the loud music!

[ebk57]

Jon Batiste is a national treasure.  Kelly Clarkson is fabulous.  "One Last Time" never fails to make me tear up.  And Cher - she was so into the whole evening, it was heartwarming.  

With all that to work with, it's too bad the show was kinda bland. 

[Medicine Crow]

I thought the show was fabulous, particularly Adam Lambert's rendition of "Do you Believe in Life after Love".  It was magnificent.  Man, that guy has RANGE!!!

[wonderwoman]

every year, there's always one segment that feels thin compared to the others. this year it was reba's, which was nothing more than singers coming out and talking about how wonderful she is before singing one her songs. no overview of her career, no cohesion among the the performance, no context of how she fits into country music, all in striking contrast to both wayne shorter and phillips glass. i learned a lot about their music from the comments of their fellow musicians. 

and reba's segment just looked cheap: nothing visually interesting; no set design beyond some album covers . the lighting was perfunctory, the graphics or backup musicians nonexistant; another striking difference from the shorter and glass segments, both of which were visually, as well musically, stunning. 

wonder if it was simply a lack of imagination on the part of the segment producer. 

[Koalagirl]

Adam Lambert brought Cher to tears! Wish I could have read Cher’s lips when Cyndi Lauper first came out on stage, before Cher shouted out that she was supposed to be in Las Vegas (or Los Angeles?).  Loved watching everyone rock out to Cyndi!

[Jeanne222]

Cindi surely hasn't lost it!  Wow.

I hated all that too loud music throughout the show!  Little big town is my favorite but the loud music and songs selection was terrible!

[VCRTracking]

1 hour ago, wonderwoman said:

every year, there's always one segment that feels thin compared to the others. this year it was reba's, which was nothing more than singers coming out and talking about how wonderful she is before singing one her songs. no overview of her career, no cohesion among the the performance, no context of how she fits into country music, all in striking contrast to both wayne shorter and phillips glass. i learned a lot about their music from the comments of their fellow musicians. 

I don't think Reba was as innovative to her genre as the other honorees but as an as a personality and friend to others in the country music world she looms large. As for a more thorough overview they'd have to mention  the most horrible thing to ever happen to her, the tragic death of most of the members of her touring band in a plane crash after a show in 1991. It's gutting to hear her remember it years later and clearly the grief and pain is still fresh:

Edited December 27, 2018 by VCRTracking

[BW Manilowe]

8 hours ago, VCRTracking said:

I don't think Reba was as innovative to her genre as the other honorees but as an as a personality and friend to others in the country music world she looms large. As for a more thorough overview they'd have to mention  the most horrible thing to ever happen to her, the tragic death of most of the members of her touring band in a plane crash after a show in 1991. It's gutting to hear her remember it years later and clearly the grief and pain is still fresh:

They were on their way to perform in my hometown when the plane crashed. And it’s just another of the negative things associated with our city that put us on the national news, at least briefly (other incidents include a major flood which got us a visit from then-President Reagan to survey the damage & do a photo op loading a sandbag, & an assassination attempt against civil rights leader/advocate Vernon Jordan, who was in town to do a speech). I didn’t have tickets to Reba’s show, but I can still remember the plane crash as clearly as Reba. I think the concert was supposed to have been on March 17th—St. Patrick’s Day—as I remember.

[Inquisitionist]

I haven't watched the whole thing yet, but what I saw made me long for the days of Jon Stewart's intro of Bruce Springsteen or even Tina Fey talking about David Letterman. 

And what was up with Gloria Estafan cheerleading all night long?  Has Caroline Kennedy bowed out of the event?  She used to lend it some gravitas.  Now it feels like Vegas.

[BW Manilowe]

11 hours ago, Koalagirl said:

Adam Lambert brought Cher to tears! Wish I could have read Cher’s lips when Cyndi Lauper first came out on stage, before Cher shouted out that she was supposed to be in Las Vegas (or Los Angeles?). Loved watching everyone rock out to Cyndi!

Cher said Los Angeles. I don’t lip read well enough to understand what she didn’t actually yell out. I fell asleep & missed most of the show & just finished watching the tributes I was interested in (Reba, Hamilton creators, Cher) on the CBS app.

It really is fun watching the KCH each year (& I’m actually old enough to be pretty sure I’ve seen all or part of every show since it started airing); especially watching all those normally staid & proper, possibly stick in the mud Washington government officials “get down & boogie” at their seats when a musical artist they apparently like is honored. Like this year during the 3 tributes I watched; especially when Angelique Kidjo (who was in either the Wayne Shorter or Philip Glass tribute), Norah O’Donnell from CBS This Morning (I think it was; it might’ve been Savannah Guthrie from Today) & Kristin Chenoweth were enthusiastically enjoying themselves, singing & dancing together in the audience during the Cher tribute—even though none of them are Washington government officials. Though I also saw some people I didn’t recognize, who had to either be in government somehow, or their spouses/partners cutting up a pretty good rug too during the tributes I watched.

 

11 hours ago, Medicine Crow said:

I thought the show was fabulous, particularly Adam Lambert's rendition of "Do you Believe in Life after Love".  It was magnificent.  Man, that guy has RANGE!!!

Just for clarification, the song is just called “Believe”. When Adam was on Fox’s version of American Idol, he gave the same slowed-down treatment to “If I Can’t Have You” from the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack. I’d recommend it, if you’re an Adam fan & you liked “Believe”, but I’d be surprised if iTunes (which is/was at the time the official download site for AI performances) still has it available.

Edited December 27, 2018 by BW Manilowe
To fix spacing.

[Ohwell]

12 hours ago, ebk57 said:

Jon Batiste is a national treasure. 

What did he do?  I watch him on Stephen Colbert's show but that's all I know about him. 

I got bored watching Reba's tribute, not into Wayne Shorter's type of jazz, so I changed the channel and forgot to switch back.  I'm sorry I missed Adam Lambert.  

[lovett1979]

Some thoughts

-I hate the new format. I miss the biographies of the honorees, followed by a performance tribute. Now it's all jumbled, and I barely learned anything about these people and why they are being honored.

-Why did Gloria Estefan change gowns 6 times??? Would there have been anything wrong with her wearing 1 for the whole evening? (also, why was she the host?)

-I do not care how many Grammys anyone has

-I think Phillip Glass' music (and minimalism in general) is just awful (I say this is a classical musician myself)

-Kristen Chenoweth's performance was...odd

-Cher yelling across the hall at Cindy Lauper that she was supposed to be in LA and Cindy winking back that she lied is the most adorable thing ever

[Inquisitionist]

12 minutes ago, lovett1979 said:

Some thoughts

-I hate the new format. I miss the biographies of the honorees, followed by a performance tribute. Now it's all jumbled, and I barely learned anything about these people and why they are being honored.

Ditto.  Is it an effort to appeal to the can't-focus-for-more-than-30-seconds crowd?

12 minutes ago, lovett1979 said:

 

-Kristen Chenoweth's performance was...odd

 

FFwd'd through it.  I find her supremely annoying.

[BW Manilowe]

2 hours ago, Ohwell said:

What did he do?  I watch him on Stephen Colbert's show but that's all I know about him. 

I got bored watching Reba's tribute, not into Wayne Shorter's type of jazz, so I changed the channel and forgot to switch back.  I'm sorry I missed Adam Lambert.  

Jon played in either Wayne Shorter or Philip Glass’s tribute (not sure which because I’m not into either of those people’s artistry; presumably Wayne Shorter since he’s a jazz musician though).

If you didn’t record the show, or otherwise missed it, you can still watch the whole thing or just certain performances on cbs.com or the CBS app. I did that this morning.

[msrachelj]

just caught the end and doesn't seem like i missed anything.

cindy lauper was AMAZING! ! wow. i'm impressed...

what happened to cher's mouth? looked like she had 3 lips and false teeth. just more plastic surgery gone wrong i suppose. 

[ebk57]

10 hours ago, Ohwell said:

What did he do?  I watch him on Stephen Colbert's show but that's all I know about him. 

 

8 hours ago, BW Manilowe said:

Jon played in either Wayne Shorter or Philip Glass’s tribute (not sure which because I’m not into either of those people’s artistry; presumably Wayne Shorter since he’s a jazz musician though).

 

 

He played a Philip Glass piece.  It was lovely.  I think he's amazing and was sorry that I couldn't go see him at 9:30 Club when he was here, but it was St Patrick's Day and I try not to leave the house on St Patrick's Day.  Next time.  

[Robert Lynch]

20 hours ago, msrachelj said:

just caught the end and doesn't seem like i missed anything.

cindy lauper was AMAZING! ! wow. i'm impressed...

what happened to cher's mouth? looked like she had 3 lips and false teeth. just more plastic surgery gone wrong i suppose. 

I don't think Cyndi could do no wrong. She's amazing no matter what she does. Was her mother there at all? Is she still alive?

[vb68]

The Cher tribute really was lovely, with both Adam Lambert and Cyndi  especially shining. (Cyndi is always amazing at these types of events. I'm reminded of her magnificent version of "Carey" all those years ago at a Joni Mitchell tribute concert. I'm sure it's still on youtube. Look for it.) and Little Big Town was also fun. I have never heard a guy do a vocal on "Gypsies, Tramps, and Thieves "before, so that was kinda cool.

I'm also glad we got to see Cher's personality shining through the whole event, from her tears at Adam Lambert and especially yelling at Cyndi.

Also, as someone who never manages to get to New York and probably couldn't afford a ticket anyway, I always appreciate any snippets of Hamilton I can get, especially with Lin Manuel preforming.  I can't get enough of it.

Gotta say though that I found Gloria Estefan very stiff as host and didn't feel like she added much.

Edited December 29, 2018 by vb68

[EllenB]

I want a Cyndi and Adam TV variety show.  Oh, and Cher, if you really could turn back time, you might rethink all that Botox.

[LisaM]

I really enjoyed the Hamilton and Cher segments. 

[WonderWuman73]

My boyfriends best friend used to be the musical director for the show but was fired because they wanted to change the direction of the show.  They said they wanted a fresher younger director and to appeal to younger audience.  I miss the old tributes. I liked the Cher segment and love Wayne Shorter but his tribute was horrible. He deserved better than that. And Hamilton? Gimme a break 

[MsTree]

6 hours ago, WonderWuman73 said:

And Hamilton? Gimme a break 

I still don't get all the hoopla about Hamilton. What makes this show so popular?

[vb68]

On 1/2/2019 at 9:33 PM, WonderWuman73 said:

My boyfriends best friend used to be the musical director for the show but was fired because they wanted to change the direction of the show.  They said they wanted a fresher younger director and to appeal to younger audience.

I guess that helps explain why LL Cool J got the honor last year. I'm still scratching my head at that one. There are a few busloads of people who deserved it before him.

For example, I've been a little depressed the past couple of days that Carol Channing never received the honor.

Edited January 19, 2019 by vb68

[Snow Apple]

10 hours ago, vb68 said:

I guess that helps explain why LL Cool J got the honor last year. I'm still scratching my head at that one. There are a few busloads of people who deserved it before him.

Does LL Cool J appeal to the younger audience?

I'm not being snarky because I like him, but he doesn't scream young and hip anymore. Or am I out of touch with youth culture?  But you're right that it seems odd that he got this honor.

[vb68]

11 hours ago, Snow Apple said:

Does LL Cool J appeal to the younger audience?

I suspect not, but I certainly can't speak for a younger audience anymore. It's more like someone's dad trying to look young sadly   He's young in the sense that we could revisit whether he deserved it in say, 30 years time.

I hate to be this cynical, but even more than targeting a younger audience, it kinda looks like a gift wrapped thank you card to CBS for continuing to air the show considering he's a star of one of those NCIS shows.

Edited January 20, 2019 by vb68

[BW Manilowe]

On 1/2/2019 at 9:33 PM, WonderWuman73 said:

My boyfriends best friend used to be the musical director for the show but was fired because they wanted to change the direction of the show.  They said they wanted a fresher younger director and to appeal to younger audience.  I miss the old tributes. I liked the Cher segment and love Wayne Shorter but his tribute was horrible. He deserved better than that. And Hamilton? Gimme a break 

I don’t get what the age of the Musical Director has to do with being hip or not. Plenty of older people (if he’s older) can be, & are, “hip”. So I’m sorry your friend’s best friend got fired.

[WonderWuman73]

15 hours ago, BW Manilowe said:

I don’t get what the age of the Musical Director has to do with being hip or not. Plenty of older people (if he’s older) can be, & are, “hip”. So I’m sorry your friend’s best friend got fired.

I know so strange. Doesn’t make sense to me. He also directed the Obama musical inauguration concert. Thank you 

[vb68]

I couldn't help thinking with Mick Jagger's recent heart surgery, they really are behind on honoring him as well as so many others. If Jagger isn't included this year, he should be by next year at the latest. 

[BW Manilowe]

On 4/8/2019 at 5:18 PM, vb68 said:

I couldn't help thinking with Mick Jagger's recent heart surgery, they really are behind on honoring him as well as so many others. If Jagger isn't included this year, he should be by next year at the latest. 

Technically, it wasn’t “surgery” since they didn’t cut open his chest. It was more like a “procedure” since they inserted the replacement valve through an artery in the groin, which is considered “minimally invasive” & not “surgery”, per se.

[wonderwoman]

33 minutes ago, BW Manilowe said:

Technically, it wasn’t “surgery” since they didn’t cut open his chest. It was more like a “procedure” since they inserted the replacement valve through an artery in the groin, which is considered “minimally invasive” & not “surgery”, per se.

technically, yes. but the point here is that the man’s going to be 76 in july, so now is the time to recognize his, and the rest of the stone’s contributions both to music, and the culture at large. 

[BW Manilowe]

7 minutes ago, wonderwoman said:

technically, yes. but the point here is that the man’s going to be 76 in july, so now is the time to recognize his, and the rest of the stone’s contributions both to music, and the culture at large. 

I totally agree. But I also think artists like Barry Manilow & Bette Midler (the same age as Mick, or close to it) should be recognized as well; especially if artists like Neil Diamond & Lionel Richie (to name a couple of artists from roughly the same musical genre)—& I think Sir Elton John, but I’m not positive—have already been recognized by the Kennedy Center (I’m not debating the previous selection of Sir Paul McCartney as a representative of that genre; he & The Beatles are musical legends & he truly deserved the honor).

[vb68]

Interesting group this year.

I'm thrilled with Linda Ronstadt's inclusion. She wasn't at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame a few years ago, so I assumed she didn't even travel anymore. It's richly deserved.  I always feel she's a bit underrated as having one of the best voices of her generation.

So Sesame Street is the first television show to get the honor. I'm sure some people will object, but I can't be mad about it.  It certainly has had an impact and helps early childhood development. If kids have to watch TV, at least have them watch that. 

Edited July 18, 2019 by vb68

[Stuffy]

8 hours ago, vb68 said:

Interesting group this year.

I'm thrilled with Linda Ronstadt's inclusion. She wasn't at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame a few years ago, so I assumed she didn't even travel anymore. It's richly deserved.  I always feel she's a bit underrated as having one of the best voices of her generation.

I don't know if it's near where she lives, but Ronstadt was at Dolly's music cares honors this year. 

[vb68]

I hope Dolly Parton and Emmylou Harris show up to sing for Linda.

[Ohwell]

I'm looking forward to seeing Earth, Wind & Fire and Linda Ronstadt.  Should be some really good music and I hope the artists do their songs justice.

[ebk57]

This is a pretty good group.  I'm a little too old for Sesame Street, but I totally understand how important it is.  I do remember Michael Tilson Thomas taking over for Leonard Bernstein on the Young People's Concerts when I was...young. And who doesn't love Sally Field, Linda Ronstadt and EW&F.

Maybe I'll try to get a ticket... maybe. 

[chitowngirl]

This airs Sunday December 15 on CBS. Has it ever aired before Christmas before?

[vb68]

Do we know any of the presenters/performers yet?  I'm really curious who's singing for Linda. I'm assuming Emmylou Harris will be there. Carrie Underwood did a fantastic cover of Different Drum a few years ago at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I'm assuming they won't ask her to reprise it, though they really should because it was perfect, and I'd love to see Linda's reactions..

[tvchick]

On 12/8/2019 at 12:33 AM, vb68 said:

Do we know any of the presenters/performers yet?  I'm really curious who's singing for Linda. I'm assuming Emmylou Harris will be there. Carrie Underwood did a fantastic cover of Different Drum a few years ago at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I'm assuming they won't ask her to reprise it, though they really should because it was perfect, and I'd love to see Linda's reactions..!

Here's a link to the Washington Post article on the ceremony.  Spoilers of course!

https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/theater_dance/kennedy-center-honors-its-a-boogie-wonderland/2019/12/08/c464bc1e-1861-11ea-8406-df3c54b3253e_story.html

Edited December 9, 2019 by tvchick
edited to add links

[Lilac2000]

The Sesame Street crew wore yellow feathers in their lapels etc. That made me tear up when I saw the photo.

[Medicine Crow]

I really liked the whole evening (except for Kelly Ripa not being able to read the damn prompter ... Gawd)!

[Was-MArsenault]

My mom and I were watching the football game on TV, and she thought that Linda Ronstadt was in the audience.

[vb68]

On 12/10/2019 at 5:40 PM, Lilac2000 said:

The Sesame Street crew wore yellow feathers in their lapels etc. That made me tear up when I saw the photo.

What a strange and sad twist of fate that the great Caroll Spinney died the day of the ceremony. 

RIP